4 ms·

Would your attitude change if, say, until 11th grade nobody had told you that college prep begins in middle school (or maybe kindergarten, depending on who you

Would your attitude change if, say, until 11th grade nobody had told you that college prep begins in middle school (or maybe kindergarten, depending on who you ask)? It may shock you but that is actually the situation a lot of students and their parents find themselves in: they find out too late that they were supposed to be preparing for college admissions for the past few years. (I am not claiming that you have to believe that this justifies affirmative action, but you should know that the situation is not as simple as the media talking points would have us believe.)

rohit2412 8y ago
Then instead of admitting students who didn't prepare for reasons of ignorance and lack of guidance, you give better guidance. Would you award me a fields medal, just because I didn't achieve anything since I wasn't taught and guided well regarding mathematics?
- betterunix2 8y ago
  I was replying to a comment that said that if Asian students are spending hours every day preparing for college admissions, then they should be admitted. My point was only that the situation is not as simple as "some people work harder than others," not that affirmative action is necessarily the right answer to the problem. Maybe sending out an army of people to work with elementary and middle schools in Black and Latino neighborhoods to explain to students, parents, and teachers what they should be doing to prepare for college is a better approach. Either way we should not pretend that this is a simple problem with a simple answer.
whatshisface 8y ago
My attitude for that would be that the entire point of holistic criteria is that college prep shouldn't have to begin in kindergarden! The adult success rate of kids that wake up for the first time in college and Tiger Children (TM) isn't all that different, so we don't want to end up in a situation where, for any race, the only way to go to Harvard is to be a Tiger Child (TM). Making it easier for one race to get in to Harvard might help solve the problem for them, but that doesn't help all the other races.
- betterunix2 8y ago
  Sure, but my point was not that Harvard's admissions process is the best approach; it was that the situation is not as simple as "Asian kids work harder so they deserve admission to the best schools," which was what the person I was replying to had said.
- turtlecloud 8y ago
  If these asian kids didn’t work hard what other opportunities are there? Do you think any serious admission committee is gonna look at your avg asian kid and give him the benefit of the doubt for being “holistic and well rounded” when there are 20x more white kids that could take that same spot?

rohit2412 8y ago

Then instead of admitting students who didn't prepare for reasons of ignorance and lack of guidance, you give better guidance. Would you award me a fields medal, just because I didn't achieve anything since I wasn't taught and guided well regarding mathematics?

betterunix2 8y ago
I was replying to a comment that said that if Asian students are spending hours every day preparing for college admissions, then they should be admitted. My point was only that the situation is not as simple as "some people work harder than others," not that affirmative action is necessarily the right answer to the problem. Maybe sending out an army of people to work with elementary and middle schools in Black and Latino neighborhoods to explain to students, parents, and teachers what they should be doing to prepare for college is a better approach. Either way we should not pretend that this is a simple problem with a simple answer.

whatshisface 8y ago

My attitude for that would be that the entire point of holistic criteria is that college prep shouldn't have to begin in kindergarden! The adult success rate of kids that wake up for the first time in college and Tiger Children (TM) isn't all that different, so we don't want to end up in a situation where, for any race, the only way to go to Harvard is to be a Tiger Child (TM). Making it easier for one race to get in to Harvard might help solve the problem for them, but that doesn't help all the other races.

betterunix2 8y ago
Sure, but my point was not that Harvard's admissions process is the best approach; it was that the situation is not as simple as "Asian kids work harder so they deserve admission to the best schools," which was what the person I was replying to had said.
turtlecloud 8y ago
If these asian kids didn’t work hard what other opportunities are there? Do you think any serious admission committee is gonna look at your avg asian kid and give him the benefit of the doubt for being “holistic and well rounded” when there are 20x more white kids that could take that same spot?